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Opera caught us by surprise by including faster JavaScript handling than Chrome in its 10.5 browser. In 10.6, there’s even faster performance, plus greater HTML5 and WebM video support, a streamlined menu button, and AVG malware protection baked in.

With the latest release, there’s also a collaboration with anti-malware provider AVG to prevent real-time protection against phishing, nefarious software, and other security breaches, explained at Opera’s site.

Opera 10.6 is a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux systems. Tell us what we missed as you use it yourself in the comments.

Download Opera 10.6

Windows only: KillProcess lets you kill single or multiple processes in one swoop, manually or through predefined “kill lists.” It’s a fully flushed out utility that even lets you terminate protected Microsoft system processes.

KillProcess displays the memory usage of each process, and lets you terminate processes effectively. Unlike previously mentioned Task Killer, and the robust Process Explorer, KillProcess has customizable “kill lists.” Each kill list, a list of processes which you can add and edit to your liking, can be handled differently by KillProcess. For instance, the program can be set to scan certain kill lists during various time intervals to terminate on sight. KillProcess is a freeware program for Windows only.

Download  KillProcess

The popular Linux distribution Fedora has just released a new major version, Fedora 11, around six-and-a-half months after the release of Fedora 10. The changelog is extensive, but the screenshot tour shows an alluring operating system.

For changes more likely to concern you, hit the Changes in Fedora for Desktop Users page for specifics on desktop, network, printing, multimedia, games, and other tweaks.

Fedora 11
Fedora 11 Download

For some, downloading software is a daily habit. Problem is, a lot of applications don’t have built-in tools for staying updated.
Instead of checking each program—manually—to see if it’s up-to-date, RadarSync checks and updates all the apps on your system for you.

After installing and running the system scan, RadarSync highlights your installed applications that are out of date and lets you choose which updates you’d like to install. After downloading—from what RadarSync states as the official programs’ servers—you can launch the install process directly through the RadarSync interface, or run it later from the saved file.

RadarSync is compatible with both the 32 & 64-bit versions of Windows XP and Vista only, and while we’ve featured it once before a while back, its functionality is worth another mention.

It’s also not the only app of its kind that we’ve mentioned, so if it doesn’t quite fit what you’re looking for, you may also want to check out previously mentioned alternatives like File Hippo Update Checker, Update Notifier, or Appupdater.

Service Pack 2 is officially available for download, bringing better Wi-Fi and BlueTooth connectivity, processor compatibility, native Blu-Ray support, and faster search to Windows Vista.

Just as with the release candidate, installing SP2 technically requires having SP1 installed, that makes SP2 kind of a pain for those cautious users, and Microsoft notes that the only solution for a missing or incomplete SP1—or, in some cases, stripped-down installations made with vLite or other custom disk makers—is a lengthy re-install.

Still, for those waiting on even more fixes for Windows Vista, SP2 should be a welcome download. You should see it through Windows Update around June 30, but you can download and install it directly from the links below, as well as check out the official list of changes.

Notable Changes in Windows Server 2008 SP2 and Windows Vista SP2

Downloads:
Windows Vista Service Pack 2 (32-bit)
64-bit
ISO image

Nimi is a fun little program for adding swanky visual effects to Windows XP.

Borrowing heavily from the special effects found in the Mac OS X system and the Compiz effects in Linux, Nimi has a lot to add to your desktop.

You can implement shadows and transparency, tweak windows to snap to screen edges or maximize when tapped against them.

Application windows can also be tweaked with Jello-like wiggles, bouncing, or other real world motions.
There are dozens of tweaks included in the program; conveniently, when you select one that will interfere with another, the secondary option is grayed out to prevent conflicts.

Nimi is freeware, Windows only.

Free remote desktop application CrossLoop has just released a Mac version, which means simple, cross-platform remote support and file sharing for your friends and family.

The benefit of CrossLoop has always been that it’s very easy to set up and use, even for beginners, making it an ideal tool for those of us who’ve been unofficially designated as tech support for our loved ones. Just install (on both your computer and the computer you want to control), sign up for accounts, and you’ll be up and sharing screens in no time once you swap the automatically generated access code. I don’t see any new options (screen sharing and file sharing have always been CrossLoop’s brread and butter), but the addition of Mac support should open a lot of new doors for helping out across platforms.

CrossLoop is a free download, Windows and Mac only.

Panda Cloud Antivirus uses the power of cloud computing to scan and eliminate viruses from your PC that can identify new malware in almost real time.

Traditional anti-virus applications simply download an update from the servers on a periodic basis to keep your virus definitions scanning for the latest viruses—Cloud Antivirus uses their cloud system to do the work of classifying and scanning for new viruses, and is constantly updated with the latest virus information based on information from every other PC running the software.

The client is lightweight, taking a mere 16mb of RAM on our test system—and while it caches a copy of the definitions for offline use, it doesn’t seem to take much drive space either. We’ve not had a chance to test the software against real malware—in our testing it quickly found and eliminated a bunch of spy cookies, but it’s refreshing to see new innovation in the boring world of virus killing.

Panda Cloud Antivirus is a free download for 32-bit Windows only, and according to CNET will stay free for personal use even after it is released from beta. For more, check out the five best malware removal tools, and the five best antivirus applications.

Polaris is a free Adobe AIR application that brings Google Analytics (Google’s statistics tracking tool for web publishers) to your desktop with an attractive look and feel.

If you don’t have your own web site, this application (and Google Analytics in general) is useless to you. If you do have a web site, chances are you’re a little bit of a Google Analytics junkie. Rather than keeping a tab or window open dedicated to Analytics, Polaris Desktop Reporting pulls Analytics out of your browser and puts it into an attractive widget-style look at your web site’s visitor and traffic status. The application is fast, integrates many of the reports you likely look at regularly, and overall works like a charm.

Polaris is a free download for Windows, Mac, and Linux, requires Adobe AIR.

If you’re new to Google Analytics but think it might be for you, head over to our guide toimproving your web site with Google Analytics.

Download Polaris for Google Analytics

The Jaunty Jackalope is on the loose, bringing a Linux desktop with streamlined notifications, aspeedier file system, and other upgrades to the free desktop. Grab a live CD and try it out for yourself.

As happens every six months or so, the official Ubuntu servers are swamped with upgraders and downloaders this morning, so you’d be quite the polite person if you upgraded from a mirror server or grabbed any of the Ubuntu 9.04 ISO images from an official BitTorrent stream.

Thinking about adding Ubuntu to your boot options, but don’t want to mess up XP and/or Vista? Check out Adam’s guide totriple-booting all three of those. You can get even more risk-free by running Ubuntu 9.04 in a virtual machine.

Ubuntu is, as always, completely free, runs on most any x86-based system.